Scavenger Hunt – Nature

This cross-curricular fun activity celebrates BIODIVERSITY DAY today. It is great way to get children excited about maths and nature. Children will have to look for certain materials found in nature, count them, record their results and communicate their mathematical thinking. By bringing maths into everyday experiences, like exploring in the garden, children can practice their mathematical skills in a meaningful way. This type of activity will deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts as well contribute positively to their wellbeing: spending time in nature has a very positive effect on our mental and physical health.

What you will need:

  • Pencils
  • Hunt list
  • Clock

How to Play:

Create a list before you head out, choose as many items as you like. Check out our template below for ideas. Children may like to be involved in this process – brainstorm what natural materials and wildlife you expect/hope to find in the garden.

  1. Once you have devised a list, take note of the time on the clock, and then head outside.
  2. Begin by looking for the first object on your list. Count how many of those items you see. For example, there are 3 trees in the back garden
  3. Write down that number. Or if there are lots of those items it may be a good
    idea to keep a tally instead (just put marks on a piece of paper but the 5th mark is drawn across the previous 4 marks (see below)
  4. You may wish to collect some of the natural items for further analysis later (between 10 and 20 items) e.g. sticks, round pebbles, fallen leaves, blades of grass, flower petals, shells)
  5. Continue through the list, searching for each of the items. Record how many of each kind you find. Take some sketches, tree rubbings or photographs.
  6. Don’t forget to take your time and look around – you may see some other interesting items that weren’t on your list. What other maths can you see around you?
  7. When you’re done, look at the results. Which natural item did you find the most of? The least? Which stick is the longest/shortest/thickest/thinnest etc.
  8. Record the time on the clock again. How long did you spend scavenging?

Search for as many of the following items as possible

  • How many fallen leaves can you find?
  • Collect some samples of different types of leaves – try get as many different shapes as possible
  • Draw a sketch of one of the leaves or make a leaf rubbing
  • What type of shape does it have?
  • What colour is it?
  • How would you describe the texture of the leaf? (waxy/smooth/rough/flimsy/bumpy/crumbly)
  • Create a pattern collage with the leaves you have collected

  • How many sticks can you find on the ground?
  • Can you collect 10 sticks?
  • Which stick is the longest/shortest/thinnest/thickest?
  • How would you describe the texture? (smooth/rough/bumpy/hard/crumbly)
  • Arrange the sticks in the row, anyway you like/from smallest to biggest

  • How many trees can you see?
  • Do they have leaves or not?
  • How to the tree differ from one another? What are the differences? Similarities?
  • If they have leaves, what colour are they?
  • Estimate the number the branches/leaves? Is it possible to count?
  • How would you describe the tree? (tall/small/wide/thin/bushy/bare)
  • Categorize the trees in terms of size – which one is the tallest/shortest? Which has the thinnest trunk?
  • Are there any animals in the tree? Count them
  • Take a bark rubbing. How would you describe the texture/colour of the bark?

  • How many white/pink/yellow/purple flowers can you see?
  • Can you find a flower with 2 petals/3petals/4petals/5petals/many petals? count how many you find and record the results

  • Can you find any feathers on the ground?
  • How many can you collect?
  • Which feather is the longest/shortest/biggest/smallest?
  • Can you draw a sketch of a feather?
  • What colour is it?

  • Can you find an animal with 0 legs/ 2 legs/4 legs/ more than four legs?
  • Record how many of each differen birds you see in your garden. Put a time limit on it.
  • Can you find a group of animals together? Birds/insects/cattle/fish? How many?
  • Sort the animals in order of size – draw a picture
  • Which is the biggest/smallest/fastest/slowest/heaviest/lightest
  • Which is the odd one out? Seagull, Robin, blackbird, cat? Cat, dog, butterfly, cow?
  • categorise the animals into furry/not furry

Human made objects

  • What types of objects can you see in your garden that are not natural?
  • How would you describe the shape?
  • Can you find an object that you think is heavier that this?

What shapes did you see?

  • straight line,
  • curved line,
  • square,
  • triangle,
  • circle,
  • cuboid,
  • sphere
  • …

Patterns and symmetry

  • Can you find any interesting repeating patterns?
  • Predict what would come next in the pattern if it were to continue
  • Can you create your own repeating pattern with some of the materials you collected?
  • Can you find something that has 1 line of symmetry? 2 lines of symmetry? Rotational symmetry?

Extension to the activity

Once you have completed the scavenger hunt, it’s now time to look at all the materials in more detail. Children should be prompted to sort, match, compare, count, discuss and analyse their findings.

  • How many sticks did you get?
    • Arrange them in any order you would like. Which is longest/shortest? Thickest/thinnest?
  • How many pebbles/rocks did you gather?
    • Which one is the heaviest/lightest?
  • Sort the leaves in terms of colour/size/texture
    • What are the similarities between these leaves?
    • What are the differences?
  • How many petals do each of your flowers have? Children may analyse and report that they didn’t find any flowers with 9 petals, for example
    • Which flower had the most petals?
    • Which flower had the biggest petals?

Make some art with all the material.

You could roll a dice to decide how many pieces of each material you can use or create some nature scenes using any materials you like.